current events

Becoming a police officer undeniably puts a normal citizen in a position of power…—Veronica La Mont

The United States has been called the land of freedom. We are all equal, as stated in our constitution. In order to maintain a stable and functional society we have created laws and regulations to ensure the safety of our people and system. As a country, we employ members of this society to enforce these laws in the name of the people. Racism is rampant in this country, and as we have seen in recent news, those acting upon racism are not always regular citizens. In fact, they are the people in power, the people we have placed our trust in. Every single human being makes mistakes on a daily basis. Sometimes these mistakes are based on prejudice. Many protestors are arguing the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, were based on just that.The New York Civil Liberties Union has released data that clearly points out how minorities are targeted by the people who pledge to protect us. New York created a policy called the “stop and frisk” policy, which states, “The situation in which a police officer who is suspicious of an individual detains the person and runs his hands lightly over the suspect’s outergarments to determine if the person is carrying a concealed weapon.” Now, this sounds reasonable in terms of protecting citizens against gun violence, except for the fact this law leaves the decision of who is “suspicious” up to the officer on duty. Becoming a police officer undeniably puts a normal citizen in a position of power. How that citizen then honors that position of power is a completely individual decision. Racism is alive in this country and racism can wear a belt around their hips with a tool of incredible severity: death. In 2013, more than half of the population police officers deemed as “suspicious” were black. As a country, we are giving “the law” the individual opportunity to decide who may be carrying a gun without real probable cause. Twelve percent of the New York population searched for a weapon were white. Are white people naturally less suspicious? No. We are all equal, says the constitution. The disproportionate amount of African Americans searched in comparison to Caucasians is astounding, but statistical proof that racism can wear a belt, a uniform, a badge, and enforce “security.”The injustice of black lives taken is shown by Eric Garner, who was held in a choke hold (prohibited by NYPD) by police while repeatedly stating “I can’t breathe”. He then consequently suffered a heart attack and died. We see law enforcement inflict death without punishment. The protests arising around the country and even internationally, arevital to this cause. All too often, an injustice will occur and citizens will be angry but the issue will fade into the background in a few weeks. The topic might pop up in conversation occasionally, but the people forget the injustice, forget the anger, and most importantly, forget that if we band together as a race we can create change in our Justice system. Anarchists and thiefs taking advantage of this movement for personal gain must be differentiated in the public’s minds as separate than the protestors. There are people who utilize the power of protesting to destroy and steal. They are not the protesters, they do not care about our country or change. As humans, every race must acknowledge we live in a society of white supremacy, that this is occurring to minorities, and this goes against our constitution. It is time for change, so grab a sign, raise your voice, and say something!